Merger of Women's College At Rutgers Gets Some Support

By RICHARD LEZIN JONES and JOHN KOBLIN

Published: March 8, 2006

Supporters of the women's college at Rutgers University expressed guarded backing yesterday for a plan by the university's president to merge the school with three others. But they said they were concerned that a merger could diminish the college's significance.

The university's president, Richard L. McCormick, outlined a plan yesterday morning that called, as expected, for the consolidation of the women's school, Douglass College, with three other undergraduate liberal arts colleges -- Livingston, Rutgers and University -- under the umbrella of a single school of arts of sciences. A fourth college -- Cook -- will be renamed the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

The plan, designed to streamline what some had argued was a cumbersome academic structure, would incorporate the academic courses now offered through Douglass into a new ''residential college.''

Under the plan, the newly named Mabel Smith Douglass Residential College would function as a four-year program where women could stay in all-female dorms and take classes centered on women's issues. But the college would not set its own graduation requirements or grant its own degree.

Dr. McCormick is expected to present the proposal to the university's board of governors for approval on Friday and expects it to take effect in September 2007.

''Rutgers needs to change,'' Dr. McCormick said at a news conference at the university's New Brunswick campus, where he unveiled the plan. ''It's time to move Rutgers forward.''

Supporters of the college had feared that Dr. McCormick would follow the recommendations of a Rutgers task force that called for the elimination of the college, the nation's largest publicly financed all-women's college. Faculty, student groups and even the New Jersey Assembly issued statements supporting the college.

Shortly after Dr. McCormick's plan was announced, Douglass supporters expressed relief that the college had not been eliminated. But they also said they were concerned about how the plan would be implemented.

Assemblywoman Linda Stender, a Democrat from Union County, said that while the merger plan ''moved in the right direction,'' she was particularly troubled by a part of the proposal that would place the academic programs at Douglass under the renamed residential college.

Both students and faculty who had supported the college indicated that they would lobby the university to ensure that the merger did not completely abandon the legacy and traditions of Douglass.